Press Room

The USDA’s 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released last week, encourage Americans to eat more seafood to support health and nutrition.

The guidelines recommend that Americans eat at least eight ounces of a variety of seafood per week, for those eating a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet, with the aim to take in at least 250 mg. per day of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding are recommended to eat at least eight ounces of seafood per week to improve infant health outcomes.

Currently, only one in 10 Americans eat seafood at least twice a week, so the dietary guidelines also include recommendations to guide Americans on how to incorporate more seafood into their diets.

Finfish such as catfish, flounder, halibut and tuna, and shellfish including crawfish, oysters, shrimp and mussels are listed among the lean or low-fat choices in the protein food group on the USDA’s Choose My Plate dietary recommendations, which are part of an extensive public health education campaign in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The site also recommends tips for making healthy choices and nutritional information.

Surveys show that consumers aren’t sure how to cook fish, and younger generations tend to be introduced to seafood while dining at restaurants rather than prepared and served at home.

A simple option to create a healthy meal is to place your fish in tented tin foil and add fresh or dried herbs such as parsley and dill, lemon, white wine or butter and a dash of Cajun seasoning and bake until the fish is firm (or white around the edges). You can also add lump crabmeat or shrimp to a tossed salad for healthy protein, adding artichoke hearts, tomatoes and cucumber to mimic Deanie’s Bayou Seafood Salad. To make it more authentic, try our homemade sweet fig vinaigrette dressing, an easy recipe that is sure to please!

We are lucky to live in a region where fresh fish is readily available in grocery stores and seafood markets. At Deanie’s Seafood Market in Bucktown, 1713 Lake Ave., Metairie, we regularly have fresh redfish, black drum, catfish, tuna and more available to our customers (often depending on what’s in season).

Come visit our Seafood Market and pick up some fresh seafood to prepare at home today! Or visitwww.shopdeanies.com for an assortment of other seafood such as Louisiana shrimp and Louisiana blue crab shipped anywhere in the United States.